The 2014 “Giants of Jazz” Concert at the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) tomorrow, Nov. 29, will be a star-studded musical event to honor Jazz Master McCoy Tyner.
Presented by SOPAC, The Baird and the Village of South Orange, and produced by John Lee & Jazz Legacy Productions, the event is at 8 p.m. Tickets: $50, $60; SOPAC Members: $45, $55; Seniors & Students: $40, $50. Tickets can be purchased online, or by phone: 973.313.ARTS (2787).
Now in its seventeenth year, Giants of Jazz has become an essential highlight in the area’s music calendar, and has helped to put South Orange on the map as a center of world-class jazz.
Founded in 1997 by John Lee to honor exceptional musicians and to keep jazz visible and prominent in South Orange, the concert helps fund other musical events in town, such as the popular Free Summer Concerts in the Park.
Tyner is the latest in a string of renowned artists whose creativity has had a major impact on jazz performance and/or education, according to a press release. Previous recipients include Jimmy Heath, James Moody, Clark Terry, Frank Wess, Benny Powell, Dr. Billy Taylor, Frank Foster and Marian McPartland, and Slide Hampton.
This year’s incredible line-up includes some of the greatest jazz musicians around: ROY ASSAF, GARY BARTZ, TOMMY CAMPBELL, SHAREL CASSITY, CYRUS CHESTNUT, DEZRON DOUGLAS, VINCE ECTOR, JOSH EVANS, GERRY GIBBS, JAMES GIBBS, GREG GISBERT, RUSSELL HALL, BILLY HARPER, ANTONIO HART, JIMMY HEATH, FREDDIE HENDRIX, JULIAN LEE, MIKE LEE, ABELITA MATEUS, TS MONK, JEB PATTON, CLAUDIO RODITI, WALLACE RONEY, RENEE ROSNES, EVAN SHERMAN, EJ STRICKLAND, STEVE TURRE.
According to the release, “Tyner’s blues-based piano style, replete with sophisticated chords and an explosively percussive left hand has transcended conventional styles to become one of the most identifiable sounds in improvised music. His harmonic contributions and dramatic rhythmic devices form the vocabulary of a majority of jazz pianists.”
You’d have to travel into New York City or beyond to hear musicians of this caliber. Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind event, right in your own backyard.
